Chapter five: Another plate of vegetables
Morning had come way too early for Lara. She had woken up from a wonderful dream involving Dana and herself half an hour ago and just couldn't fall back asleep again. Having felt no desire to get up already, she had cuddled into her sheets and was now staring at the ceiling, a broad smile on her lips. The redhead wondered what Dana might be doing right now, whether she was still asleep or already up and about. Turning her head to the left, she saw her cell phone on the night stand.
"Maybe I should call her?", she wondered, taking her cell phone and going through the IDs.
She stopped at the tennis player's ID, looking at her name on the display, the sight of it bringing another smile to her face.
"But what should I say? Something like, Hi, it's Lara. I miss you already.", the chef said out loud, shaking her head.
Deciding not to call her, since they'd see each other at the country club later anyway, Lara put the cell phone back on the night stand and slowly crawled out of bed. Once out of the warm, comfortable nest she yawned loudly and stretched her tall body, her t-shirt riding up a little, revealing a glimpse of the flesh of her stomach in the process.
A little while later Lara sat on the kitchen counter, cross-legged, holding a mug of steaming coffee in both her hands, occasionally taking a sip from it. Just as she was about to take another sip, she heard the familiar ring of her cell phone.
"Who could that be?", the chef wondered out loud, putting her mug down before hopping of the counter. "Maybe someone from work..." Trying to figure out who might be the person calling her that early in the morning, she reached the bedroom, where the ringing phone was waiting for her.
"Dana", it read on the display.
Lara's heartbeat quickened at the pure sight of the name. She suddenly felt the butterflies going wild in her stomach.
"Oh, God, it's her." The redhead reached for her cell phone with shaking hands. "Hi.", she greeted the person calling her, her voice a little shaky.
"Hi, Lara. It's...uh...it's me." Dana sounded as nervous as her. "I didn't wake you up, did I?", the tennis player asked, seemingly worried.
"No, you didn't." Lara could hear Dana letting out a sigh of relief and couldn't help but giggle. "Although it wouldn't have been that bad, if you had, because I really like your voice."
A laugh was heard through the phone, then Dana cleared her throat. "Well, umm...this might seem totally geeky and clingy to you, Lara, but, you know, I was wondering if you'd like to have breakfast with us."
"Us?", the chef asked a little alarmed.
"Yeah, I mean with my friends and me, at the Planet.", the athlete explained. "I could come over and fetch you."
Lara was flattered at the invitation. It showed her that Dana wanted to develop this further-just as she did-and she propably would have agreed, if it had been just Dana and her having breakfast. She didn't feel ready to be formally introduced to the other woman's friends already. Afterall, they had had one date yet, they weren't seriously together.
"As much as I would love to have breakfast with you, Dana, I really don't think I'm ready to meet your friends yet.", she started to explain, hearing Dana sigh. "Don't get me wrong, Dana. I'm not wanting to say that I don't want to meet your friends...it's just, you know, we only had one date last night, we're not together yet and I think we should wait until we're more serious about where this is going, you know.", Lara explained, hoping not to sound too negative. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay. I totally understand.", the tennis player said. "Will I see you at the club then?"
The sous chef nodded her head, although the other woman couldn't see that. "Yeah, you will see me there.", she said, smiling slightly.
Suddenly Dana's mood seemed to lighten. "Will you send me a plate of those delicious grilled vegetables again?", she asked.
"Do you want me to?"
"Of course, I really love your grilled vegetables with those dipping sauces.", Dana answered, her tone serious and yet playful.
Lara smiled, her chest swelling with pride. She had come up with the dipping sauces and the grilled vegetables solely for the tennis player.
"If that's the case.", she said, chuckling lightly. "Of course, I will send you a free plate of my very special creation. Afterall, you're a very special customer, Dana."
"I am?", Dana asked surprised. "How special am I?"
"Well, enough to have the sous chef take care of your meals, personally.", the redhead joked, trying to sound drop dead serious.
"Wow, I really am some kind of VIP then.", Dana laughed. "Well, I gotta go. See you later, bye."
"Okay, bye.", Lara said before she hung up and put the cell phone back on the night stand.
Unable to contain a little squeal, she walked back into the kitchen, shaking her head at her own silly behaviour when it came to Dana. All the brunette had to do was give her a call and she would become all giddy, she would even squeal like a teenage girl-something Lara had never found herself doing before.
--
Lara checked the clock for the umpteeth time this day. It was around two o'clock in the afternoon, the time Dana usually came to have lunch. The more time passed without the tennis player showing up, the more Lara's nervousness grew.
"Maybe she doesn't want to see me, because I didn't want to have breakfast with her.", she feared in her thoughts, while trying to concentrate on the work at hands.
It had been a rather calm day-not to many customers, not to many meals to be prepared-and the chef had found herself with nothing to do a few times this noon.
"What if I hurt her feelings? What if I totally blew my chance to ever have a relationship with her?" Lara's thoughts were running rampant and she silently cursed herself for her sudden insecurities. "What about that kiss when she walked you to your apartment? Doesn't it count at all?", one voice in her mind was reasoning with the other. "That was last night. It happened before she called you this morning.", the other fought back.
Lara groaned lowly. "Am I turning into a schizophrenic now?"
"Hey, Lara, you're okay?", one of the waiters asked her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry.", she shrugged it off, giving him a little smile.
He nodded his head and took the plate that Lara had just prepared to one of the tables. The redhead watched him walk towards the table for a few seconds before letting her gaze wander around the dining room, her blue eyes scanning the room for any sign of the tennis player.
"She's out on the courts, practicing her skills. So stop going nuts, Lara, just stop.", she ordered herself in her thoughts when she felt a slight sense of disappointment at Dana's absense.
Just as she was about to return her eyes back to her work, Lara noticed a movement out of the corner of her eyes. A new customer was coming into the club. Recognizing the person as the woman of her dreams, the sous chef felt the slight blush creeping up her face as well as the bright smile on her lips. Dana came walking into the dining area, looking around herself. She was wearing a dark blue tennis dress and a blue jacket. Her hair was somewhat messy, but still kept in her trademark ponytail and her eyes were featuring a wild look. Finally locking eyes with the sous chef, Dana's smile broadened and she mouthed a "Hey, you" at the other woman. Lara smiled back and couldn't help but notice how stunningly the athlete looked after a hard workout.
"I just wish she was working out with me." The redhead blushed at the sudden thought and the images coming with it, turning her eyes away from the distracting woman to prepare a plate of the grilled vegetables Dana loved so much.
Looking around the dining area and seeing that it was almost empty, the sous chef decided to wait on Dana herself, spending some time around her. She arranged the vegetables on the plate, took the plate and made her way over to the brunette's table.
"I believe you ordered these.", she said as she stood next to Dana's chair, holding out the plate.
Dana, sitting with her back towards the kitchen area, turned around and looked up at her special waitress who was smiling down at her.
"Yes, I did. I heard the sous chef makes them herself.", the tennis player said with a smile.
"You heard right, Miss.", Lara said, setting the plate down in front of the other woman. "Would you mind if I sat down for a little while?"
For a second Dana seemed taken by surprise, but then she nodded her head and gestured Lara to have a seat. "No, not at all. Please sit."
"Thanks." The redhead took a seat next to the athlete.
Silence fell over the two women as Dana ate her meal, occasionally complimenting on how delicious it was.
"And I really didn't wake you up this morning?", the brunette asked when she had finished her meal, her eyes focused on the chef.
"No, Dana, you didn't.", Lara said, her voice totally calm. "Although you did surprise me. I hadn't expected you to call me."
Dana chuckled. "Well, I hadn't expected myself to do that either.", she admitted. "But then I did, although it seemed kinda clingy, didn't it?"
Lara shook her head. "No, it didn't. In fact, I had been thinking about calling you, too.", she confessed at which Dana's blue eyes lit up.
"Really?"
The sous chef only nodded her head.
"Seems like we're a fine pair of geeks then, huh, Lara?", Dana said, laughing.
"Total geeks.", Lara said, joining the other woman in her laughter.
As the laughter died down, the tennis player suddenly became all serious, seeming to be focused on something. She focused her blue eyes on the redhead again, who was beginning to feel a little uneasy under the other woman's stare.
"So, umm, Lara, do you have plans tonight?", Dana asked rather bluntly.
The sous chef raised her eyebrows, wondering if this was going to be the invitation to another date. "No, not yet. Why?", she asked, trying to sound innocent.
"Well, I, umm...", the tennis player started, her nervousness seeming to return. "I was thinking that we could have another date."
Lara's eyes lit up at the question, her face brightening with a smile. She still couldn't quite believe that Dana would want to pursue this further, even after all that had happened between them.
"I would love to go on another date.", the redhead told the other woman, unable to hide a goofy grin.
"Great." Now Dana was grinning, too. "So when does your shift end?"
"Umm..." Lara thought for a moment. "Since today's friday I'll have to work till 10 o'clock, maybe even longer." Her voice suddenly started to sound disappointed. "That's gonna be some kind of a problem, Dana. Most of the places will be closed."
"Not all of them, though.", the brunette said, smiling triumphatically. "I happen to know a place that'll be open at that time, Lara."
At that the sous chef's mood lightened again, she even became somewhat playful. "You do? Care to tell me the name of that mysterious place?", she asked.
Dana shook her head. "No, not telling anything.", she said, which earned her a pout from the chef.
"Aww, come on, Dana.", Lara pleaded.
"No, it's a surprise.", the tennis player said, grinning mysteriously, which only added to Lara's already peaked curiousity. "You'll have to wait until tonight, Lara."
Lara realized that she wouldn't get the tennis player to tell anything and decided to let it go, since that way she would have something to look forward to, which would help her get the day over. She gave a defeated sigh. "Alright, I'll wait."
"You don't have any other choice.", Dana said then, getting up. "Well, I'm gonna go hit the courts again. See you tonight.", she added, smiling at the chef, before making her way to the exit.
"Yeah, see you tonight.", Lara said, getting up as well.
The redhead returned to her place behind the counter, well aware of the looks the rest of the staff were giving her.
"I had no idea you were familiar with Dana Fairbanks, Lara.", the exact same waiter that had worried about her well-being addressed her now, his voice seemingly teasing.
Lara looked at him, her shining eyes betraying her emotionless face. "So what if I know her?", she asked, trying to sound indifferent.
She was well aware that most of her colleagues knew about her sexual orientation. They had started to suspect something when Lara had begun sending grilled vegetables and dipping sauces to solely the tennis player and then, one night after work, they had confronted her. Not able to get out of it anyway else, Lara had come out in front of them, her voice terribly shaking, even failing her sometimes. She had been scared to death that they'd freak out about the fact that she was gay, she had been scared that she'd loose her job because of it, but none of her colleagues seemed to have a problem with it-to Lara's great relief.
"How well do you know her?", the waiter, Simon, teased, his eyes watching the redhead intently.
Lara could only figure what was going on inside Simon's head right then, but by the gleam in his eyes it was most likely something involving Dana, herself and a lot of skin.
"Certainly not in the way you're just picturing.", she said, laughing.
Simon looked shocked at first, then his face turned a deep crimson. Muttering something Lara couldn't make out, he walked away, leaving the laughing chef to herself.